My experience is that most cashiers have 50 cent and dollar coins in the machine. They just don’t give them out cause people don’t like them.
I once got on a bus as it was leaving and gave the driver a twenty. He gave me a look and proceeded to unload all his dollar and 50 cent coins on me.
Many Yahrin ago, I ran a movie theatre. I’ll date myself, the adult tickets were 4.75. It was a no-brainer to trundle off to the bank and get a change order for $200.00 in halfs. Of course, the weird looks started when I put the order in…
The theatre owner thought I was nuts. Then he asked why the sales at the consession stand were up. :smack: Some people can’t see the forrest for the trees. It would take all week to use up the change order—I would just recycle it from the consession stand.
Last year, Vorlon Jr’s school lunch was $1.75–there was a jar of change envelops over my desk with a sackie, a half and a quarter in each. This year, the lunch went to $2.00. Now the envelopes have a Jefferson in each. My credit uniion was more than happy to provide me with a stack of them–just had to get them out of the vault.
But the best one was a few weeks ago—ent into the local BeastBuy, picked up a DVD I wanted, total was $23.09. I handed the blond, gum chewing, multiple pierced cashieer a twenty and two two’s.
<CTL-ALT-DEL>
meek voice/ Where do I put these?/meek voice
The third person was walking over to help her with her till as I left… :eek:
Yiddish?
the last dollar coin i received was gold-tone.
i still prefer bills, tho.
Update:
Earlier today I went to a branch of my bank. I first asked the cashier if he had a roll of $1 coins. No problem, he had them right by him, and I got a roll. I then had the temerity to ask if perchance there were also any $2 bills in that bank? He had 36 immediately available, and I got them all. While these are certainly scarce in circulation, my bank has them. (Probably because when they get these, no customer wants them.)
I then tried to use these. The first store I went to I bought a bag of Doritos, and paid with a couple of Jefferson $2 bills. They were accepted without hesitation. Just before I got home, at the local liquor store I bought a couple packs of smokes. I paid for these with two $2 bills, and 2 Sackies. The cashier was confused by the Sackies, and examined them carefully for a while. She noticed these said “one dollar”, and commented “gee, these things are neat.” I had never seen this cashier before, and asked her if she was a new cashier? She said that this was her first day on the job, but had worked elsewhere as a cashier about a decade ago. This cashier looked to be a woman about 50 years old. She commented she had never seen these $1 coins before. I replied neither had I until I got them from the bank earlier today. Obviously, Sackies aren’t common around here.
Although, they aren’t totally unknown. I talked about these coins to 2 other people today. One was a woman who works as a manager at a fast food restaurant. Her comment was while they didn’t get them much, it wasn’t unusal to find one or 2 in the cash that came in on her shift.
I also met a guy today I know from NYC. [Actually, he’s from Jamaica, and just happens to have lived a number of years in NYC. His accent and the dreadlocks are a dead giveaway he isn’t a native born person from NYC. ;)] He was quite familiar with the Sacky. He used them a lot on the subway. So indeed, how common this coin is depends on the location.
Now, I absolutely must try and see how many cashiers I can freak out by paying with Sackies? I must work on getting more from the bank. It would be curious to see how a cashier would react if I the total was $9.38, and I paid with ten Sackies instead of a $10 bill. :eek:
I guess that shows that you are old enough to remember Dime Stores but not old enough to remember 5 and 10 Cent Stores.
I’ll bet Burger King, Hardees and even KFC would love to have your theory tested, just by McDonald’s.
All I have to say to the OP is that we’re not stupid enough to trade our bills for your coins. 
Hong Kong tried to phase out its 10 dollar bills (roughly equivalent to 1 US dollar), but the coins it introduced turned out to be a godsend for unscrupulous elements, who produced their own fake ones. So, two years ago, a new 10 dollar bill was introduced. All three types are currently in circulation.
The best part of the debacle was watching the Government trying desperately to convince people that it was re-introducing bills owing to popular demand, when it had used the same argument to get rid of them.
The problem with the Sacagawea dollars is that people think they’re rare (for some reason), so they save them instead of spending them. I read an article a while back that said something like 700,000 or more of the first billion minted were squirreled away in sock drawers, because people were hoarding them, thinking they’re valuable or unusual.
Now, reread that. Billion. The totals from the first year of production ended up being about 1.2 billion. In other words, they minted enough of these coins in the first year alone to make at least four coins for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.! They are not rare by any stretch of the imagination. So stop hoarding them!
In retrospect, I think it was foolish to start the “50 State Quarters” program and start producing gold dollars at around the same time (one year apart). First, you have a program that’s intended to spark an interest in coin collecting, and then the next year you start making a new coin that you intend for people to spend. Oh well, live and learn…
I do remember dime stores but they were just beginning to disappear. By the time I remember them from, around 1965 or so, they were “dime” stores in name only; surely most things cost a bit more than a dime. However, I was under the impression that when that type of store came on the scene around the turn of the last century, most articles in them really did cost a dime or so, and the same for 5 - 10 - 25 stores.
Though I think by now everyone here knows I’m a strong advocate for dollar coins and for discontinuing the dollar bill, I have to admit that I have never had a great deal of trouble with bill acceptors on vending machines. I’d say they work 98% of the time for me. Come to think of it, I don’t often see worn-out dollar bills anymore. It’s as if they’re making an effort to retire them sooner than they used to.
I presume you meant 700,000,000 of the first billion minted were squirreled away in sock drawers? And that they made a billion is not why they aren’t rare. They wouldn’t be rare because the mint is ready and able to produce all that the American public demands.
Colonial 
For some reason I also get a kick out using time units from Battlestar Galactica. My wife is not so impressed.
I recall lots of complaints when we first introduced the Loonie here. In fact the name Loonie caught on so quickly because people thought it was foolish. One of the chief complaints was that you’d end up spending too much money because 1$ was now too easy to drop into a machine. People got used to it pretty fast though.
I’m sure no matter where your located in the U.S. that you have a post office near you. Every post office that i’ve been in from coast to coast that has stamp vending machines gives out your change with sackys.
Does anyone have one that doesn’t?
You people live in places where the bus is $1? And the drivers give change? Septa charges $2 for adult, though if you cross into or out of Philadelphia there’s an extra 50 cent zone charge. The bus drivers and booth operators at el stations give no change ever.
Back To The OP
I’m against dollar coins. I usually carry a large amount of $1’s in my wallet. They weigh very little. The same amount of Sackies is rather heavy. Coins fall out of my pocket more easily than bills. I also love garage sales and flea markets. These people don’t accept checks, can’t take ATM or credit, and often don’t have a lot of change.
If you want to get rid of the current dollar bill, I say switch to plastic. I know that some other countries have switched to plastic bills. They’d be more durable than paper, and much easier to get the public to accept.
Lansing, MI area here.
The bus drivers do not give change. The fares here likely are lower as CATA is partially funded by a property tax millage. Adult 31 day passes are $30, and for students it is $14 a month. Michigan State University is in the area, so there are a lot of students. I know people who aren’t students who just get people who are to buy the student card from them. And from what I’ve heard, on campus it is easy for anyone to buy the student passes. They don’t check for student ID.
Huh? You stand on your head a lot? I’ve never had problems with change falling out of my pockets. And, why do you need to carry around a lot of $1 bills?
What’s your point? Garage sales and flea markets should be able to handle bills $5 and up, and a few Sackies for any purchase.
What country uses plastic bills? And get rid of the dollar bill, and people will quickly switch with little problem to Sackies. Canada has both a $1 and $2 coin, and I am not aware of the fact the smallest bill there is $5 has caused chaos, or even significant problems. I suspect Americans could also cope with getting rid of the $1 bill.
Stand on my head? No. But, when quickly dropping to a squat to examine items on the ground, or kneeling while leaning forward and supporting myself with one hand and thumbing through a box of comics, coins fall out of my pocket. Just around the apartment, the many positions assumed while trying to find one of the many things I’ve misplaced tend to cause the coins to fall out of my pocket. Or, it could be my lack of dexterity. Whatever the reason, I have a problem with coins falling out of my pocket.
I need to carry alot of $1’s both for flea markets (one must always be prepared) and because I may run out of bus tokens. The fare collectors on SEPTA buses do not take Sackies AFAIK. They do take dollar bills.
As others have said, if the government were to discontinue bills in favor of coins we would vote them out of office. I do not care if it worked in Canada. As has been said many times, you can take my 12 inch ruler when you pry it from my cold, dead, nonmetric hands. Remember the uproar over New Coke?
I’ll have to dig through previous Sackie threads for a cite on plastic currency.
I do. Every week I go to the bank and I get a roll of $25 and use those puppies! People love it! Lots of them swap out the coins from the till, too.
I’m also getting so that I refuse $1 bills in change, and insist on coinage instead. Legally I should have to accept them, but I push big time for coinage.
Just doing my part for sensible change! 
(Pun intended)
Australia uses plastic bills. It uses them for $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. It also has 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 coins.
Plastic does last longer, but it creases more easily than paper.
(And like those in almost every country other than the US, Australian bills are all slightly different sizes, and different colours).
They are legal tender, and the bank is obligated to provide them, if available, but you may have to wait a week before they come in from the main bank to your branch.
If your bank refuses, report them to the FDIC. That’s how I got my bank to order them for me! Now they keep a roll on hand, cause they know I’m coming.
Oops… don’t we already have that?
At the grocery store, the clerk always asks, “Paper or plastic?”
